William Medecalfe de Dent

was an ancestor of JANE METCALFE (1807-1874). He is considered to be the progenitor of the family clan Metcalfe and ancestor of all who carry this surname, including DAVID WALKER's paternal grandmother.

According to the Metcalfe Society WILLIAM (MEDECALFE) DE DENT was the son of WILLIAM fils MALDRED de Middleton, Carleton and Dent and a Lady out of the House de Taillebois, who, however, is not named more precisely.
But after a closer look at history, she must have been either a granddaughter or great-granddaughter of IVO DE TAILLEBOIS, who he had by the offspring of his only daughter, Beatrix and son-in-law, RIBALD DE MIDDLEHAM. For it looks like, at least his eldest grandson, Ralph, was already old enough at the beginning of the 11th century to witness charters. So he would have been also old enough to have fathered children at that time. Ultimately, however, it does not matter in terms, how WILLIAM (MEDECALFE) DE DENT's exact family ties were on his mother's side, because he was, in one way or another, a descendant of IVO DE TAILLEBOIS and RIBALD DE MIDDLEHAM.
NOTE:    [1100 - c. 1116] Ralph son of Ribald witnessed for example, with several officials and tenants (or their sons) of count Stephen (c. 1045-1102; son-in-law of William the Conqueror) the charter of Osbern de Arches to St Mary's, York (Early Yorkshire Charters, no. 527).

WILLIAM (MEDECALFE) DE DENT must have been born latest by c. 1135/40, because according to the Metcalfe Society he was old enough to support his father c. 1160 to move Cisterian monks to Jerveaulx Abbey. To be precise, this happened in 1156 according to Dugdale’s Monasticon Angl. V, 569-74.
Jerveaulx Abbey was founded in 1141/45 at Fors near Aysgarth by Akarius Fitz Bardolph, Lord of Ravensworth. He gave to Peter de Quinciano, a monk from Savigny, land at Fors and Worton, in Wensleydale to build there a monastery of their order. Serlo, then Abbot of Savigny, disapproved of the foundation, as it had been made without his knowledge and consent. He refused to supply it with monks from his abbey, officially because of the great difficulties experienced by those he had previously sent into England. He therefore, in a general chapter, proposed that it should be transferred to the Abbey of Belland (Byland) which was closer and would be able to lend the necessary assistance required by the new foundation. So Monks were sent from Byland and after undergoing great hardships because of sterility of their lands removed their monastery in 1156 with the consent of Harveus of Ravensworth, the son of Akarius, to the present spot. Here the monks erected a new church and monastery, which, like most of the Cistercian order, was dedicated to St Mary. At the height of its prosperity the abbey owned half of the valley and was renowned for breeding horses, a tradition that remains in Middleham to the present day.
According to the Metcalfe Society WILLIAM (MEDECALFE) DE DENT and his father shall have supported these monks with their venture at that time. This was certainly not unusual, because the founder of the abbey, the Lords of Ravensworth, and WILLIAM (MEDECALFE) DE DENT were maternal relatives. For RIBALD DE MIDDLEHAM was not only a (half-) brother of Bardolf of Ravensworth, but also of 'Alan Rufus' (c. 1040-1093), founder (1071) and 1st Lord of Richmond in Yorkshire. For that reason it was quite obvious to appoint a relative like WILLIAM (MEDECALFE) DE DENT as steward of these abbey lands.

According to the Metcalfe Society WILLIAM (MEDECALFE) DE DENT was like his father a landlord of considerable prominence, leaseholder of wide lands in Deepdale, Romaldkirk, Uredale and Lonsdale (photo).
Assumingly his kin- and friendship with the Lords of Ravensworth and Earls of Richmond enabled him to benefit from leasing many clearances in the forest and its borders on favourable terms adding to his holm land he already held. He was besides a skilled practical stockman, aware of the value of changing pastures from holm to upland in maintaining healthy sheep and cattle.

WILLIAM (MEDECALFE) DE DENT, however, lived in an area and time, which was characterized by battles and border feuds. In 1174 the King of Scotland, William the Lion (fl. 1165 to 1214), tried to regain without success the 'Land of Carlisle', which Scotland lost about eighty years before. This attempt increased in Scottish border raids around Appleby, close to the lands of William de Dent's kinsmen and his own property. For that reason, he was supporting King Henry II of England, although his great-aunt was the sister of William the Lion.
According to the Metcalfe Society William led his troop of horsemen at Alnwick against Scotland's King, and took him prisoner. "King William hastily assembled those he could, and charged the Yorkshire Barons with sixty men-at-arms, and while doing so advanced to attack Bernard de Balliol. William de Dent observed the king's intention, and urged his horse to the side of King William's horse, seized a bridle rein and checked its progress so sharply that King William was thrown and his horse fell upon him. When King William was able to rise, it was to find himself a prisoner in the hands of Bernard de Balliol."
And Wikipedia states: "On the night of 11 July, a party of about four hundred mounted knights, led by Ranulf de Glanvill, set out from Newcastle and headed towards Alnwick. This small fighting force contained several seasoned knights, who had fought against the Scots before. They reached Alnwick shortly after dawn after becoming lost in heavy fog. There they found William’s encampment, where the Scottish king was only protected by a bodyguard of perhaps sixty fighting men. At the sound of alarm, William rushed from his tent and hurriedly prepared to fight. The English force charged and the Scottish king and his bodyguard met the charge head on. The fighting did not last long. William’s horse was killed beneath him and he was captured. Those of his followers who had not been killed surrendered."
On the order of the Sheriff of Westmorland, Ranulf de Glanville (1112-1190), William de Dent was given next charge of the royal prisoner conducting him to Newcastle and thence to Richmond. In August 1175, when Henry II paid tribute to the Sheriff and the members of the expeditionary force, he mentioned by name William for his part in the action. He referred to him not only as "William de Dent", but also as "WILLIAM MEDECALF DE DENT" because the boundary of his lands in the western part of the Yorkshire Dales ran along the top of the mountain Middleton fell with its summit Calf Top. It was the very first time that the name 'Medecalf' was recorded in the history of England.
NOTE:   As also William's father, WILLIAM FILS MALDRED, was apparently still alive at that time, it could have been also him, who took this special part in the action and was given the nickname 'Medecalfe' by Henry II. However according to the Metcalfe Society it shall have been his son.

But independant of this historical event it seems as if it was not common practice to use 'Metcalfe' as surname before the late 13th century, because the first recorded spelling of the family name is possibly that of William's great-grandson, Adam Medecalf de Dent. [1279] "Ricardus the Staynbridge de Dent occidit Adam Medecalf de eadem et statim fugit et malecreditur, ideo exegatur et ultagatur. Catella ejus XIIIjs vjd unde idem vicecomes respondebit. Primus inventor obiit." (Assize Roll of Yorkshire, no. 1057). The described event could be translated as follows: "Richard of Stonebridge de Dent killed Adam Medecalf de (of the) same place and fled imediately, and he is suspect, therefore let him be persecuted and outlawed. Value of his chattels 14/6d for which the same sherriff is to respond. The first finder has died."
 In 1195 Helewise, daughter of the above mentioned Ranulf de Glanville (in the end chief justiciary of King Henry II.) died, preceded by her husband, Robert FitzRandolph de Taillebois, 3rd Lord of Middleham and Spennithorne. Both left three young sons, who became wards of Helewise's cousin Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor of King Richard I. (Richard Lionheart). Being the guardian the Archbishop also took over the post of Warden of the Forest of Wensleydale and Longstrothdale, which Robert FitzRandolph got granted by Earl Conan of Richmond and which implied now the need of a Chief Forester of loyality and exceptional ability to cover for him.

William Medecalfe de Dent, who fought at the side of Helewise's father and was maternal related to Robert FitzRandolph de Taillebois. Therefore WILLIAM (MEDECALFE) DE DENT was a comprehensible choice of Hubert Walter and got therefore this position, who William had to represent on the spot. The area measured about thirty miles from its northern boundary at Bowes to its southern at Buckden and was some eighteen miles wide
(Remains of Middleham Castle in Wensleydale built by Robert FitzRandolph, 3rd Lord of Middleham and Spennithorne, commencing in 1190. It was built near the site of an earlier motte and bailey castle.)
from Bainbridge in the east to Dent and the borders of Westmorland. The Chief Forester was assisted by twelve foresters and two 'grassmani' (forest policemen), whose duties were to arrest anyone found breaking the forest laws and to bring them to Richmond for trial.

William Medecalfe de Dent shall have had numerous progeny. 'Adam son of William son of William de Midelton' occurs for example in 1239, when Ivo de Kendal (perhaps Taillebois) released to him, and Matthew de Laesich and Emma his wife, tenants, one bovate in Midelton (Feet of Fines, file 3, n. 33).

However it was not Adam, but William's eldest son RICHARD (-1232), who inherited his lands in the area of Dent up to their western boundary at Lonsdale to Middleton Calf Top. Despite King John's unpopularity Richard at first stayed loyal to the king until his neighbour, William de Mowbray brought him into alliance with his family, who supported the Archbishop of Canterbury's efforts to restrict the king's activities. In consequence Richard and some of his kinsmen accompanied the contigent led by Lord Mowbray in the campaign, which compelled King John to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede near Windsor on June 15th 1215. It promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons.

The Magna Carta (originally known as the Charter of Liberties) of 1215, written in iron gall ink on parchment in medieval Latin, using standard abbreviations of the period, authenticated with the Great Seal of King John. The original wax seal was lost over the centuries. This document is held at the British Library and is identified as "British Library Cotton MS Augustus II.106".)

[1197 x 1217] Richard de Dent witnessed a grant and quitclaim by Roger de Coigners to St Cuthbert and the prior and monks of Durham. (Source: Durham Cathedral Muniments: Miscellaneous Charters, no. 366)

Richard hisself had at least two sons, Adam and Richard, Adam being the elder (-1252). Following their father's death the brothers divided their spheres of influence and their progeny between areas roughly north west and south east of the Old Cam Road (photo by John Watson). While Richard became known as Richard of the Wether Fell, Adam's father ceded to him lands and estates extending to the top of the mountain, known as Calffe Fell, on the border with Westmorland. In those times the region abounded with wild deer. As a deer up to the age of four years was called a "calffe" by the foresters, so the mountain had become known as "the Calffe." By virtue of his owning half of the Calffe, Adam in due course became known as the man of "half-the-Calffe." The above mentioned ADAM MEDECALFE DE DENT, who was murdered in 1278, was his son.

ADAM MEDECALFE DE DENT was hisself an established landowner in his own right in the districts of Dent and Lonsdale, and was also Steward of the Abbey Lands of Jerveaulx close to Middleham. For that reason and because of his own descent of both, MALDRED DE MIDDLETON, Lord of Raby and RIBALD OF MIDDLEHAM, Lady Mary of Middleham, widow of Robert Neville, Lord of Raby, was perhaps induced to appoint 1271 her and her late husband's kinsman ADAM MEDECALFE DE DENT as Chief Steward and Chief Forester to administer her massive domain, including several manors and extensive areas of forest. His right-hand man and son, Adam was twenty-five years old, when he took over in 1278, then. His marriage to a daughter of James de Bainbrigg, Chief Forester to John, Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond brought him lands in Bainbridge. He was officially styled "Adam Mede-calffe of Baynbridge, chief forester to the Earl of Richmond" following his father-in-law to the post in 1304. According to the Metcalfe Society he attended Parliament in Westminster, when Edward I was acknowledged King of Scotland, and the Earl of Richmond appointed its governor in 1305. One year later, the king resided a while in York attended by the Earl, and Adam Medecalfe de Bainbrigg shall have been in his retinue. "Like his father he led an active and sucessful life and their epoch marked a period of expansion and prosperity for the Metcalfes."